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Naganathan has served UT for 28 years. He has led the College of Engineering as dean
since May 2003 and had previously spent more than two years as the college’s interim
dean. A member of the UT faculty since 1986, he is a tenured professor of mechanical,
industrial and manufacturing engineering with expertise in the areas of smart material
systems and structures, robotics, vibrations and control, and microcomputer applications
in electromechanical systems.

Under his leadership, the College of Engineering has achieved record high student
enrollments, registering an increase in the undergraduate enrollment every fall semester
for the last eight academic years. Naganathan also has worked to elevate the college’s
mandatory co-operative experience program – one of only eight in the nation – exceeding
15,000 placements in partnership with more than 1,600 employers in more than 40 states
in the U.S. and in more than 30 foreign countries.

He created the Engineering Leadership Institute with philanthropic support from Roy
and Marcia Armes, CEO of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company and a 1975 UT mechanical engineering
graduate, to provide leadership opportunities for students. And Naganathan’s interest
in collaborations lead to new joint degree programs with the College of Business and
Innovation and College of Medicine and Life Sciences in the areas of information technology
and biomedical engineering.

The college has grown under Naganathan’s tenure with the addition of the Nitschke
Technology Commercialization Complex and the Thomas and Elizabeth Brady Engineering
Innovation Center. It also has grown in prestige nationally. In October 2006, the
engineering graduate program was listed for the first time in the Princeton Review’s
the top 20 graduate programs and U.S. News and World Report has ranked the practice
oriented masters program among the top 50 in the nation during for the last three
years.

Naganathan’s research projects have been funded with $6.5 million in grants and contracts
from external sponsors, including the National Science Foundation and automotive manufacturers.
He is the author and co-author of more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
He also has been awarded a U.S. patent on the use of piezoelectric devices in active
suspension systems (US Patent 5,390,949). Naganathan’s work with industry includes
conducting vibration analysis and control studies on heavy-duty truck powertrains
for Dana Corporation and as a design engineer with Ashok Leyland Motors.

Naganathan has received a number of prestigious awards, including a Fellow of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, UT Outstanding Teacher Award, UT Outstanding
Researcher Award, SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, ASME Outstanding Regional
Faculty Advisor Award, TST/TSPE Engineer of the Year, and Distinguished Alumnus Award
from his alma mater, the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchirappalli, India.

He serves as an elected director of the national American Society of Engineering Education
Engineering Deans Council Executive Board, and is a member of the Executive Committee
of the Board of Directors of the World Association for Cooperative & Work-Integrated
Education, Board of Directors of the Ohio Aerospace Institute, Executive Committee
of the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders, and Rotary International.

Naganathan earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in mechanical engineering from
the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirappalli (formerly known as Regional
Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli), University of Madras, India, a master’s degree
in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University, New York and a
Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University.